Get off the main road that cuts through Key Largo and you're suddenly in a Florida wonderland.
I hate to be a nag, especially on vacation. The kids hate when I nag them about getting up early or posing for next year's holiday card. But now I've got new motivation to nag, and I don't think my environmentally conscious gang will complain about -- traveling greener.
Five years is too long between vacations. Just ask Amy and Matt Wilcher. The Ohio couple hasn't had a vacation since their Caribbean honeymoon five years ago. Now that they're parents, they're contemplating an entirely different kind of getaway with their 2-year-old daughter, but Amy Wilcher acknowledges, ``We simply can't think of anywhere to go that would be easy and baby friendly.''
When the holiday season brings an onslaught of out-of-town visitors to your warm, sunny front door, how do you keep your sanity? MomsMiami.com consulted some seasoned hosts for some ideas.
Pancake, the much loved blue bear, seemed right at home among the oh-so-serious laptop-toting business people. So did his 4-year-old owner, Colin Blodgett.
You'll want to decide where to dine before you go -- in fact, you'll want to make reservations.
Wherever a wedding is held, eight out 10 couples invite kids to their nuptials, according to a surveyed by TheKnot.com.
South Florida parents making that end-of-summer dash to the theme parks are in for sticker shock: One-day adult ticket prices have hit $75 -- plus tax.
Stuck in an airport with kids? Your wait time might not be as dreadful as you fear. Cheapflights.com has compiled the 'Kids' Airport Diversion Guide,'' listing play areas and onsite aviation museums to keep your children occupied until boarding time. To find the complete list, go to www.Cheapflights.com and scroll down the righthand side to the section titled '2008 Kids' Airport Diversion Guide,'' then click on the link. Here are some highlights.
National parks offer some of the most cost-effective options you can find.
Stuck in an airport with kids? Your wait time might not be as dreadful as you fear. Cheapflights.com has compiled the 'Kids' Airport Diversion Guide,'' listing play areas and onsite aviation museums to keep your children occupied until boarding time. To find the complete list, go to www.Cheapflights.com and scroll down the righthand side to the section titled '2008 Kids' Airport Diversion Guide,'' then click on the link. Here are some highlights.
In this era of rigid schedules and technological marvels, a driving vacation offers the perfect opportunity to reconnect.
Las Vegas' ad campaign, ''What happens here, stays here,'' paints this city in Nevada as a giant playpen for misbehaving adults. It hardly comes across as a kid-friendly destination.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. We stuffed ourselves inside the rickety elevator like human dominoes, preparing to plunge 1,000 feet below the Earth's surface to see the inner workings of the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.
You'll need patience and all the usual gear -- and whatever you do, don't forget the stuffed dog.
London has loads for children to do. But instead of simply visiting the tried-and-true sights such as Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Trafalgar Square, why not treat your kids to some hot spots popular with children who actually live in London?
Take your choice among hundreds of new or special events on tap nationwide.
Encourage kids to help plan a trip to Washington, D.C. You'll be surprised where they take you. And they'll be too busy having fun to realize how much they're learning.
Even in summer, you can find uncrowded vistas, trails and campgrounds if you're willing to forgo the most popular parks.
Now, I never do this. Because I'm not an expert on anything. But I'm gonna give you some tips for flying on an airplane with kids. I just did it, and I think I got it figured out.
Cheap hotels, every kind of food you can imagine. Plenty of sizzle, spectacle, first-rate theatrical productions, giant red rocks for climbing and water playgrounds.
''I see it!'' said my 8-year-old son, Nathaniel. His eyes and finger followed a barely perceptible ripple in the water. There was a fish out there, and he and his 13-year-old brother Danny were after it. Under the guidance of our fishing guru, Chip Gray, they were learning to cast off, reel in and how to ''read'' the waves, interpreting patterns on the water's surface to figure out where the fish were.
It looked like Survivor, the family version. But the sunburned stragglers stranded on the beach beside Idaho's Snake River were only waiting for lunch.
It was one of those rare, perfect moments: My husband, Paul, and I were stretched out in lounge chairs on the ship's deck, holding hands under a star-lit sky, a bag of popcorn between us. (Well, maybe our hands were touching while in the popcorn bag, but still!)
In 1998, I took my first cruise with an 18-month-old in tow and discovered cruising was not as family-friendly as I thought -- at least not when traveling with a toddler.
For those of us who took last-minute ski trips on the cheap before we became parents -- sigh! -- it's not easy to get back on the black-diamond slopes.
We don't know where to look first. The massive pillars, looking like tree trunks, stone chameleons, tortoises and turtles, help support the columns. The sheer size of the place is amazing. Some of the towers soar more than 500 feet. Even jaded teens, like my 13-year-old niece, Erica Fieldman, can't help but be impressed.
We're normally independent travelers. So how did we end up at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, a town void of culture and created for tourists? One where we never converted our dollars to pesos? Where the biggest culinary decision was which room to sit in for our buffet meal? One word: kids.
RSS|
My Yahoo|
Newsletters|
Widgets|
Mobile|
Alerts|
Twitter
About The Miami Herald| About the McClatchy Company| Terms of Use & Privacy Statement| Corrections| Contact Us| Advertise
Partners: El Nuevo Herald| Newspaper in Education| WLRN | Miami Herald News| CBS4 WFOR-TV| More
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved
